The day was hot but perfect for this year’s Softball Fiesta Tournament which took place as in Illiniwek Park in Hampton, Ill. on Sunday, Aug. 31. The day began with a Mexican breakfast in honor of its legends of area local softball. This is an intergenerational tournament with teams in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50 and over age brackets.
After socializing at the breakfast, the younger teams faced off as the players in their 30s defeated the players in their 20 with a final score of 11-10. Then the team with players in their 40s hit the playing field and the defeated the team of players in their 50s with a final score of 15-11, leaving them to face the 30 year olds for the championship.
Then it was the women’s turn. For the first time in the history tournament, women of all ages and skill level took to the diamond as they played a special game of softball.
“We tried to divide the teams as equally as we could,” said tournament organizer and United Township Softball Coach John Alonzo who also invited some of the girls he coaches to take part.
The teams included high school freshmen up to 58-year-old Ella Vallejo, who was very proud to be the oldest player on the field for this game. Kim Roberts was named MVP for the ladies and was awarded a special trophy after the game.
For next year women’s tournament “were hoping to get teams a little more organized,” Alonzo said.
After that, the men’s third place game between the 20 year olds and the 50 year olds ended in a 16-7 win for the young guys. The championship game between the 30 year olds and the 40 year olds started our with a bang as in the first inning back to back homeruns from Dave Cortez and his cousin Doug Cortez to give the 30 year old an early lead. They continued to dominate as they finished off last year’s champs with a final score of 17- 5, capturing this year’s championship title.
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